Ivany Report leaves out direction for growing N.S. economy.

DennisTate · Aug 16, 2019

I have a kind of a funny story to tell you all here. I did submit my application to
represent the People's Party of Canada here in Central -Nova, N. S., Canada but
within two hours of meeting Mr. Al Muir, the author of the following article, at the first local E. D. A., (Electoral District Association), meeting that I was able to get to I was trying my best to convince Mr. Al Muir to become the candidate rather than me........
he is a truly insightful thinker and writer and although I am not the worst writer in Central - Nova, I consider Mr. Al Muir to be better!

Ivany Report leaves out direction

ANOTHER LOOK BY AL MUIR
The Ivany Report, on growing the economy of Nova Scotia, proposed an ambitious 10-year time frame to implement policies aimed at a provincial economic turnaround. While it sets a series of lofty goals, for the most part related to economic development and increased population, it supplies no direction on how to meet them.

It is one thing to call for a 50 per cent increase in business startups, an increase of annual exports by 50 per cent and doubling revenue from the tourism industry – it is quite another to meet those objectives. Realistically, only the most perennially optimistic among us would give even an outside chance of these goals being attained in a 10-year time frame.

In the area of population the report calls for a dramatic increase in immigration. The report dismissed the question of which has to come first, immigration or economic expansion, characterizing the relationship as a chicken/egg argument. If what comes first is not clear to the drafters of the Ivany report it is clear to Nova Scotian residents moving to Alberta to obtain one of the many jobs available there. The report recommended that we must be more open and welcoming to new immigrants. The fact that former Alberta premier Ralph Klein welcomed the first wave of Nova Scotians with the designation of "Eastern Canadian bums," with no noticeable effect on the exodus, further underlines the importance of what comes first. The reports framing of the issue shifts focus away from the primary population problem facing the entire western world and most of the developed world – precariously low birth rates.

The report also proposes globalization-inspired dynamic urban centres, to end the rural/urban divide. There are valid concerns about this approach given the singular ascendancy of Halifax to that status. The expectation that a strong Halifax economy will trickle down to the rest of the province has little basis in fact. The decentralizing of government departments has been a recognized economic tool in this country for decades. Halifax's maintenance of the lion’s share of the province’s civil service jobs factors into financial indicator reports placing Halifax in the enviable position of all green marks while Cape Breton labours under significant red marks. Given the recent economic hardships befalling Pictou County an argument can be made that the opposite of a trickle-down effect is occurring, a sort of black-hole effect, where everything gravitates towards the centre.

At first glance the proposal of a non-partisan approach to economic renewal by all the political parties is the most promising aspect of the report. Premier Stephen McNeil's formation of the OneNS Coalition naming himself chair with vice-chairs Jamie Baillie and Maureen MacDonald representing the other parties meets the report's recommendation of political co-operation. In some instances, that co-operation is advisable and potentially effective, in others it is questionable if it is in the best long-term interests of Nova Scotians.

While some have questioned the lack of urgency in the OneNS Coalition's end of 2015 timetable to create a plan, as opposed to the report’s sense of urgency, the lack of concrete steps in the report made that delay inevitable. Of more concern is the three parties agreeing on a common way forward on issues related to the province’s decline that are a result of previous and current government actions.

In a nod to one of these issues the report recommended the province lower its debt-to-GDP to 30 per cent or less. A section of the report is titled, The Government-Led Economy 1950-1995. In the 1980s a staggering 40 per cent of the province’s GDP, the highest percentage of any Canadian province, was created by the public sector. That sector is still the largest component of the provincial economy. The report outlines the political divide between those that believe there is too much government spending dragging down the economy and those that believe continued government growth is the way forward. In ducking the issue the report states, "an extended debate about government versus private sector economic leadership may distract attention away from the tough choices we now face in Nova Scotia."

McNeil's government, to this point, has made two significant moves on the financial front. First, a budget that failed miserably to tackle the deficit/debt problem. Second, the announcement of a new statutory holiday in February. Neither the work/school days typically lost to bad weather that time of year, nor the costs associated with the day, were enough to deter them. While business anticipates their costs at $130 million, which will be passed on to consumers, it appears McNeil's government did not stop to calculate the total government cost. A conservative estimate would be one of the two percentage points the Liberals failed to lower the GST by.

Al Muir is a local businessman and resident of Plymouth who keeps a close eye on the political front, both local and nationally.
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DennisTate · Aug 16, 2019

Speaking of the early 1980's I remember visiting a buddy from church and he told me
that a good friend and / or family member of his had told him that he was working on the
offshore oil drilling operations off the coast of Nova Scotia and Sable Island.

He told my buddy that two reports were prepared..... one rather pessimistic report for the Canadian government office
in charge of paying out subsidies for oil drilling operations.......
and a separate report that was accurate... that went to the oil companies head office.

I suspect that this sort of thing is common knowledge these days so I doubt that my buddy's
source of information will get in trouble regarding all this at this time but...... I do remember that
nearly forty years ago I wasn't supposed to tell that to just anybody.

My buddy had been left with the impression that there was A LOT OF OIL off the coast of Nova Scotia
and Sable Island but leaders in business and government had specific plans on where to drill the oil and when
based on market conditions, (one thing that they didn't want to be common knowledge is that the
idea of a shortage of oil supplies was not quite as big of a problem as many assumed back at that time)!

Since beginning to correspond with fellow members of the People's Party of Canada last October,
(actually September within days of Mr. Maxime Bernier's announcement), I've gotten to know a lot
of fellow party members in Alberta and I found out things that really shocked me.

To what degree are supposedly Green organizations being used to....

DennisTate said: ↑

....get at the thirty five TRILLION dollars worth of oil and natural gas reserves in the Arctic?

Or to set the stage for the devaluation of the USA petro - dollar which is in some danger due to the 4.3 trillion USA petro - dollars in the hands of China, George Soros, Iran, Europe and Russia?

GLOBAL INVESTING HOT SPOTS
Russia and China vie to beat the US in the trillion-dollar race to control the Arctic

Call it a new cold war: Russia, China and the United States all vying for influence and control in a part of the world that, this time, is quite literally cold.

With more than half of all Arctic coastline along its northern shores, Russia has long sought economic and military dominance in part of the world where as much as $35 trillion worth of untapped oil and natural gas could be lurking. Now China is pushing its way into the Arctic, announcing last month its ambitions to develop a "Polar Silk Road"through the region as warming global temperatures open up new sea lanes and economic opportunities at the top of the world.
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Russia and China know that the weakness in the USA petro - dollar could be their key to taking the USA out as the world's leading military superpower so.......
they have good reason to finance supposedly Green efforts to stop pipelines which can mess up the USA and Canadian economy.

I actually voted for Green Party leader Ms. Elizabeth May in our 2008 Canadian federal election when she ran in my area Central - Nova and I did later on apologize to her for my ignorance as to the effect that atmospheric carbon dioxide can have on Ocean Acidification but......... it is obvious that Russia and China are after those 35 TRILLION dollars worth of oil and natural gas reserves up north and of course therefore are interested in taking advantage of the weaknesses that Wall Street and the Federal Reserve have given to the USA petro - dollar.

(Or at the 117 TRILLION dollars worth of Derivatives mentioned by Mr. Jim Rickards in this interview)?

FORGET IRAN, IRAQ, UKRAINE
THIS IS WHERE WWIII STARTS...

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Oh...... I got the impression that maximizing the oil industry here in Nova Scotia in order to decrease the taxation burden on
the province of Alberta........ wasn't exactly a priority back in those days!

Of course Alberta is getting fleeced by Ottawa, just not in the way you think

This isn’t to say that there aren’t convincing arguments for flaws in the equalization system, such as how it seems to disincentivize provinces like Quebec from developing their natural resources.

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Ivany Report leaves out direction for growing N.S. economy.

DennisTate Well-Known Member Past Donor

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Ivany Report leaves out direction for growing N.S. economy.

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